Controls panels



April 17, 1962 R. w. TODHUNTER ETAL CONTROL PANELS Filed March 21, 1960 FINE FABRICS COOL 2 COLOURFAST WARM I nor WHISES & HEAVY WASH BOIL k WASH United States Patent 3,029,771 0NTROLS PANELS Ronald Wiiiiam Todhunter, Peterhorough, and David Balfour Urquhart, London, England, assignors to A.E.;I.-Hotpoint Limited, London, Engiand, a British company Filed Mar. 21, 1960, Ser. No. 16,476 (Jlaims priority, application Great Britain Apr. 15, 1959 5 Qlaims. (Cl. 116-124) be obtained by suitable adjustment of a thermostat electrically connected in the water heater circuit of the machine with a visual indication being provided if desired when the requisite Wash temperature is reached.

Control knobs for pre-setting and adjusting the timing device and the thermostat may conveniently be mounted such as with any indicator lamps on a control panel of the machine.

The present inventoin is directed to an improved control panel such as for washing machines of the kind specified and other equipment in which for best results or maximum eificiency of the equipment under certain conditions it is necessary to co-ordinate various control settings.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a control panel on which are mounted or which has associated with it at least two control knobs or other movable control elements between which or substantially between which extend bands, lines or equivalent panel markings having different characteristics and selectable by said control knobs or other elements and whereby for optimum results or maximum efliciency when the equip ment with which the panel is associated is required to perform certain functions both of the control knobs or other elements can readily be positioned with indexing means thereof pointing to that band, line or equivalent marking appropriate to the desired function.

In one contemplated form of control panel according to the invention bands of different colours, extend between the control knobs and if desired the colour bands may be further identified such as by letters or words in contrasting colours for example. For instance, in applying a control panel to an electric washing machine of the kind hereinbefore specified the control knobs will be arranged for pro-setting the timing device and thermostat respectively While bands extending between the control knobs hear such words as Fine Fabrics, Colourfast, Whites and Heavy Wash respectively so that an operator Will know at a glance to which band the control knobs should point in order to get the best results when washing articles of the respective categories.

The control panel may be composed of transparent preferably plastic material with the bands, lines or equivalent panel markings being applied to the rear surface of the panel (i.e. the surface which will be adjacent the casing of a washing or other machine when the panel is attached to the latter) so that not only can the markings be viewed through the panel from the front but the markings will be safeguarded against deterioration which would otherwise result from the panel being wiped down from time to time.

By way of example the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

3,929,771 Patented Apr. 17, 1962 ice FIG. 1 shows a front view of a control panel for a washing machine having a motor-driven agitator and electric water heater; and

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the panel taken along the line AA in FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawing a pair of control knobs 1 and 2 for pre-setting a timing device and thermostat respectively and effective to control the wash period and the wash temperature are mounted on a control panel 3 of transparent plastic material. Extending between the control knobs 1 and 2 and applied to the rear surface 3a of the panel 3 are three horizontal bands 4, 5 and 6 of different colours and containing the Words Fine Fabrics, Colourfast and Whites and Heavy Wash also applied to the surface 3a, said colour bands being illuminated from behind the panel if desired when the panel is fitted to the machine. The colour bands 4, 5 and 6 contain the markings 2 and 4, 6 and 8, and .10 and 12 minute graduations adjacent the control knob 1 so that by adjustments of the latter the timing device can be pre-set to time any wash period up to twelve minutes. The bands 4 and 5 contain the words Cool and Warm respectively adjacent the control knob 2 while band 6 contains the words Hot" and Boil. If desired the words just above referred to may be replaced by corresponding temperature gra duations in degrees centigrade or Fahrenheit.

The provision of a transparent panel enables the colour bands to be applied to the rear surface of the panel thereby obviating the risk of the bands being partly or wholly removed in the course of time due to continual cleaning of the front face of the panel.

In order to launder fine fabrics for example the con trol knob 2 will be rotated from its off position to the mid-position of band 4, assuming average soiling of the fabrics, but if the fabrics are lightly or heavily soiled then the knob will be suitably positioned on the appropriate side of the mid position. The heat control knob 2 serves for pro-setting the thermostat connected in the water heater circuit so that the appropriate wash temperature is selected. When the desired temperature is reached as may be indicated by response of an indicator lamp 7 to the operation of the thermostat the control knob 1 will then be rotated from its off position to a position in band 4 corresponding to the position of the heat control knob 1 and as determined by the degree of soiling of the fabrics. The wash control knob 1 as it is rotated from the off position causes the agitator motor to be energised and simultaneously a timing device is started into operation for timing the wash period (eg. two minutes in the case of lightly soiled fine fabrics) the agitator motor being de-ene'rgised by the timing device at the end of the selected wash period.

In the case of Colonrfast and Whites and Heavy Wash articles bands 5 and 6 will be respectively selected by the control knobs, slight positional adjustments of the knobs being made within the colour bands according to soiling.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the invention as applied to a Washing machine enables an operator to select the wash period and wash temperature appropriate to particular fabrics without having to refer to instruction books or to memorise the various wash periods and temperatures. Furthermore the wash period and wash temperature may be varied to take into account the extent of soiling so that each of the colour bands 4, 5 and 6 in effect defines a small range of wash periods and temperatures for particular fabrics within which the best results can be obtained. The control knobs 1 and 2 not being interlocked mechanically or electrically enable an operator to depart from the various ranges if necessary.

What we claim is:

1. A control panel comprising a transparent plate memmeans on said movable control elements.

2. A washing machine control panel for use in manually setting a wash time period and a wash temperature, said control panel comprising a transparent plate member of plastic material, a manually manipulatable timing control knob operable to set the wash time period and having at least one indicating pointer, a manually manipulatable thermostatic control knob operable to set the wash temperature and having at least one indicating pointer, said control knobs being arranged in spaced apart relation for rotation on the front of said plate member, and a plurality of parallel bands of different visual characteristics extending between said control knobs and applied to the rear surface of said transparent plate member, said bands being selectable by said indicating pointers which are each disposed to be movable in overlapping relationship from one band to the other by rotation of said knob.

3. The washing machine control panel as defined in 7 claim 2 wherein said bands are horizontally arranged one over the other.

4. The washing machine control panel as defined in claim 2 wherein said control knobs are mounted for rotation about axes extending normal to said plate member and contained in the same horizontal plane which intersects one of said bands.

5. A control panel comprising at least two manually adjustable control elements, indexing means on said control elements, and a plurality of band-like panel markings of different colors'extending at least substantially between said manually adjustable control elements so that any of said panel markings can be selected by the indexing means on said control elements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 18,283 Johnson Dec. 15, 1931 2,602,036 Sullivan July 1, 1952 2,911,810 Lantz Nov. 10, 1959 

